Detroit Tigers: Christin Stewart, Mike Gerber should be September call-ups

Detroit Tigers outfield prospects Christin Stewart and Mike Gerber should be called up to the Major League roster during September as the team integrates more youth into the roster.

Detroit Tigers fans are familiar with Christin Stewart and Mike Gerber at this point.

The outfielders, who are two of the team’s best position players, are both in the midst of successful seasons with Double-A Erie.

After moving up from the lower minors, both outfielders are showing why they could start for the Tigers in the near future.

Stewart has mashed 28 home runs, 28 doubles and three triples to go with a .253 ISO and 86 RBI in 533 plate appearances for the SeaWolves.

The 23-year-old has also shown his penchant for drawing walks, with a .336 on-base percentage helping to make up for just a .258 batting average.

He was recently named to the Eastern League’s All-Star team for the 2017 campaign.

Moving forward, the Tennessee product should continue to hit, especially for power and draw walks.

That combination makes it easy to pencil the former first-round pick into the middle of the Detroit Tigers lineup down the line.

The Tigers obviously don’t want to rush either Stewart or Gerber, but it would make sense if one or both were called up in September as they get acclimated to the Majors—especially with Justin Upton now in Anaheim.

Future implications

Stewart and Gerber, along with JaCoby Jones and Mikie Mahtook, are the future of the Detroit Tigers outfield.

With Mahtook already penciled into the lineup on a daily basis and Jones likely to see more playing time as the season progresses, it makes sense to ease Stewart and Gerber into the Majors down the stretch.

At worst, the team can get them some at-bats in the Majors and send them to Toledo for more seasoning to begin 2018.

However, at this point, the team needs to start playing younger players more often.

Incumbent veterans

With somewhat of a rebuild on the cards, trotting out Alex Presley or Jim Adduci everyday down the stretch doesn’t seem prudent if younger players are ready to see time in the outfield.

Both have proven to be quality under-the-radar finds by general manager Al Avila.

Presley and Adduci are each sporting a 0.2 WAR in limited action (158 plate appearances for Presley, 93 for Adduci).

Additionally, Presley has notched a 1.2 BsR and a .342 on-base percentage, serving as a much-needed table setting option.

Elsewhere, Adduci has turned in a .157 ISO, 10 RBI, 10 walks, nine extra-base hits and a stolen base in his 93 plate appearances this season.

That being said, Presley is 31 and Adduci is 32. It’s possible that they could stick around as bench pieces next season should the Detroit Tigers contend, but the youth needs to be playing at this point.

Of course, there is the possibility that Stewart and Gerber may not be ready. However, if they are, top prospects have skipped over Triple-A before.

The 40-man roster

Neither Stewart or Gerber are on the Detroit Tigers 40-man roster at this point in time.

However, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to add both to the active unit.

With the trade of Upton to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, there are currently 39 players on the 40-man roster.

That obviously opens up a roster spot for one of the two, but the Tigers could easily free up another place by designating a struggling reliever for assignment in order to try and sneak the pitcher through waivers.

From a depth standpoint, Detroit has been fortunate to sneak the likes of Edward Mujica, Tyler Collins and Steven Moya through waivers after the trio were designated for assignment.

The Tigers could try and designate a reliever like Arcenio Leon, Drew VerHagen or Blaine Hardy for assignment and see if any can make it through the waiver process.

This is all speculative mind you, but Leon seems like a decent bet to get through waivers considering he allowed nine runs, seven hits and six walks in 6.2 frames of work for Detroit earlier this season.

In the minors, Leon has pitched to a 5.24 ERA, a 4.50 FIP and a 4.49 xFIP at the minors’ highest level.

VerHagen (6.22 FIP, 1.523 WHIP in the Majors, 4.90 ERA in minors) and Hardy (6.05 ERA and 6.08 FIP in the Majors) are other conceivable candidates. Although—again—this is all speculative.

Next: Breaking down the Justin Upton trade

Either way, with Justin Upton gone and a significant number of at-bats becoming available in the outfield, the Detroit Tigers should bring up Christin Stewart and Mike Gerber to get acclimated to the Majors.